Apparatus for launching aerial torpedoes from aircraft



Feb. 12, 1952 P. w. NOSKER APPARATUS FOR LAUNCHING AERIAL TORPEDOES FROM AIRCRAFT 1943 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Original Filed July 15,

y is INVENTOR. P401 #4 WQSKEA? BY '4 at-(1..

Feb. 12, 1952 P. w. NOSKER APPARATUS FOR LAUNCHING AERIAL TORPEDOES FROM AIRCRAFT Original Filed July 13, 1943 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 INVENTOR.

PAW/L M #65556 BY W146,

dvzrf Patented Feb. 12, 1952 I UNITED- STATES arr OFFICE- The invention described herein maybe man-ufacturedand' used by or for the Government for tending the missiles to be launched in a down wardly and forwardly pointedv direction so that they may take off without endangering the mother aircraft.

Another object. is the provision of launching doors. which may act as a support for the aircraft while being launched and which may be opened during the launching so as to offer a clear and unobstructed opening in the fuselage of the mother aircraft through which the launching can Another object of the invention is the provision of initiating means for placing in operation. the.

motors or other power plants of. the guided missiles. just, prior to launching.

Another object isthe provision. or automatic arming means by which the detonati'ng circuits of the explosive charges are automatically armed during the active launching.

Another object is the provision of release means for the missiles operable by the same working fluid as the remainder of the launching means. I V

Referring to the drawings Fig. l is a side elevation partly in section of a fuselage of a mother aircraftshowing the nurnber. of guided missiles therein, one of which is in the. process of being launched. Successive launching positions subsequent to the first one are shown in dashed nes- 2 is a cross section taken along the line 2-.-2: of- Fig. 1 and in general shows an end view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1. The iormof the launching doors is indicated. in dashed lines.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation partly in section of the; hydraulic release means which it into the top of. the guided missile bodies, a fragment or" which also appears in Fig. 3. The hydraulic retaming and releasing means are shown.

Fig. 4 is a verticalsection-of an arming pin which isrintended to be pulled. out from thezbody.

of; a guided; missile upon the: launching, of; the

amended April. 30, 1928; '3 70 O. G. 757) slidable pins l9 entering sockets 29 111- the': ends laliell Spring clips which form the termini of the" arming circuit are shown spread apart by thepin in full line and in dotted line when brought together by the spring tension.

Referring to Fig. 1, a cargo type imme it;

is not illustrated because wellknown. Fined to the leveled'floor 15 of the fuselage are rails (Fig. 2) forming two or more tracks. Small cars 56, each carrying a torpedo 11, or other guidedmissile, may move along said tracks M to bring the torpedoes l-l one at a time to a position over the launching opening [8. Clamps (not shown) may be provided to holdthe cars l6- and the torpedoes H against movement-until the time for launching. Each door l2 has one or more rails or tracks Ma fixed on its inner side which is leveled. The rails: l'4d; maybe aligned with one of the other rails l4 when the doors are closed, so that the tracks become: continuous upon closing. the doors. Exact alignment of the: rails and locking. of the doors may be. accomplished by inserting slidable pin'szon the ends of each rail l la adjacent the door opening,.-said of rails l-la or docrsvlfi. The ca-rs Mi -with their torpedoes H are rolled one at a time over the: rails Ma and momentarily are supported by theclosed doors l2. However, this extrazload on the doors is quickly removedbylowering a torpedo-'- launchingv mechanism 2 I having means to connect with andsupport a torpedo,v which will now" be described. p

The torpedo-launching mechanism 2t com-- prises. a compound (telescopic) hydraulic cylinder or other actuator 22 with its upper hinged. at as .23. tothefuselage II and: having-apiston rod 2-. pivotally connected with and: sup porting a preferably double. triangular frame i5 Parallel rods or legs 25a form an extension of frame. 2'5 and their lower endsare lockedto a.-

torpedo ll at spaced points, as will be described. With the torpedo ll rigidly held by the launching mechanism 21, an electric starting motor 1 5' is provided slidably mounted on a stand 27 so that will be quickly-loweredby tnehydraulie cylinder 294' To miteacnwrpedc So that-it will-have? anegative angleiotlattach. for'assured launching;

oneorzmore pairs or: nnks'aw are-'pivotally cemnected to the frame 25 at their free ends and at their opposite ends are pivoted as at points 3| to the fuselage II. The location of the pivots and the lengths of links are such that frame 25 is slanted downward and forward through a small angle as the torpedoes II are lowered.

Each torpedo may have hinged covers (not shown) each closing an opening in the outer skin of the torpedo. Normally these covers remain closed under spring pressure to seal the openings to minimize drag. Such covers are conventional and may be omitted. When one of the supporting rods or legs 25a is thrust against a cover it will open and permit the rod to be moved down into a socket 32 in the structural member. Each rod contains two hydraulic tubes 33 which may connect with a hydraulic system (not shown) similar to the door-operating system, or else a part of the latter, and in either case controlled by valves (not shown) worked from the interior of the airplane. Near the lower end each rod or leg 25a has a chamber 34 in which a hydraulic piston 35 reciprocates and into which the tubes 33' connect. Stops 36 on each side of the piston prevent it from moving so far in either direction as to shut off liquid flow. A locking pin 31 or piston shaft which may be affixed to the piston, enters a recess 38 in the structural member to lock the rod or leg 25a to the torpedo when the piston 35 is in the position shown in Fig. 3. However, when the piston 35 is moved in the other direction the pin or shaft 3'! will move out of the recess 38 to release the torpedo l7 since all tubes 33 in all legs 25a are connected to the same hydraulic system, release of each of the legs 25a will be substantially simultaneous. When the rods slide out of the openings the covers will close automatically.

Since it would be dangerous to store the torpedoes armed, means for arming them at the instant of launching has been provided and is shown in Fig. 4. This means cooperates with the remainder of the launching apparatus as will be described.

A plug 39 is composed wholly or partly of insulating material and is faired into the skin 40 of the top surface of a torpedo I1. It is provided with an eyebolt M which projects above the skin 40. An insulating ring 42 is provided below the skin for the reception of the plug 39 which bears switch prongs 43, preferably of beryllium copper. These are so tensioned that upon removal of the plug, the prongs 43 will contact each other, thus creating a continuous electric circuit 44 which is the detonating circuit for the torpedo warhead (not shown). A cable 45 is attached to both the eyebolt 4| and some member, say 25, of the launching device or other point in the cargo airplane. When the torpedo is launched, the plug 39 is pulled out of the torpedo. The prongs come together as shown in dotted line in Fig. 4; the torpedo is then armed.

The described launching mechanism delivers the armed torpedoes ready to fly, one at a time below the airplane, with a negative angle of attack so that they will clear the airplane when launched. It will be understood that a number of torpedoes may be stored on racks or the like, inside the airplane at various points.

The car 16 after the removal of the torpedoes therefrom may be manually or otherwise pushed back toward the rear of the aircraft from the position over the closed doors before the doors are opened. However, military necessity may dictate a high-speed operation, in which case the empty car 16 may be jettisoned upon opening of the doors I2.

In the appended claims, the term mother aircraft means the cargo airplane [0 or its equivalent, while parasite aircraft means the torpedo II, or its equivalent, which may be a jet propelled, radio or radar-guided missile.

What I claim is:

1. In combination, a parasite aircraft, a plurality of holding sockets with a detent in each socket onsaid aircraft, a launching device comprising a parallel bar linkage, legs extending downward from said linkage into said sockets, a piston and cylinder therefor arranged crosswise of each leg at substantially the outer end thereof. a fluid inlet passage to said cylinder, and a fluid outlet passage from said cylinder both extending downward through said leg whereby said piston may be releasably forced by fluid pressure by its shaft into said detent in said socket and retained there to hold said leg in said socket until the fluid pressure on said piston is released.

2. In combination, a mother aircraft having a bomb bay door opening, a powered parasite aircraft contained within the mother aircraft, a plurality of holding sockets with a detent in each socket on said parasite aircraft, a launching device carried within the mother aircraft, said launching device comprising a parallel bar linkage, legs extending downward from said linkage into said sockets, a, piston and cylinder therefor arranged crosswise of each leg at substantially the outer end thereof, a fluid inlet passage to said cylinder and a fluid outlet passage from said cylinder both passages extending downward through said leg whereby said piston may be releasably forced by fluid pressure by its shaft into said detent in said socket and retained there to hold said leg in said socket until the fluid pressure on said piston isv released and a telescopic actuator of the power type for pivoting the parallel bar linkage as a whole about a pair of pivot points within the mother aircraft and adapted to project the parasite aircraft at a negative angle of attack through a bomb bay door opening on the mother aircraft, said actuator and said pistons in the holding sockets being actuable by the same type of working fluid.

PAUL W. NOSKER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,313,693 Hucks Aug. 19, 1919 1,353,518 Chmielarski Sept. 21, 1920 1,547,912 Hall July 28, 1925 1,627,185 Krammer May 3, 1927 1,648,904 Kesses Nov. 15, 1927 1,672,163 Krammer June 5, 1928 1,687,000 Abreu Oct. 9, 1928 1,834,840 Holt Dec. 1, 1931 2,029,778 Krammer Feb. 4, 1936 2,339,011 Gurney Jan. 11, 1944 2,362,345 Bertran Nov. 7, 1944 2,399,217 Fahrney Apr. 30, 1946 2,409,210 Jolly Oct. 15, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 419,563 Great Britain Nov. 14, 1934 

